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Return from Witch Mountain
' Return from Witch Mountain' is the 1978 sequel to Walt Disney Productions' 1975 film, Escape to Witch Mountain. It was written by Malcolm Marmorstein and is based on the novel by Alexander Key. Ike Eisenmann, Kim Richards, and Denver Pyle reprise their roles as Tony, Tia, and Uncle Bené—humanoid extraterrestrials with special powers including telepathy and telekinesis. The two main villains are played by Bette Davis as Letha Wedge, a greedy woman using the last of her money to finance the scientific experiments of Dr. Victor Gannon, played by Christopher Lee. A made-for-television sequel called Beyond Witch Mountain was made in 1982. Plot Having spent a good deal of time enjoying the company of their newfound family and friends at Witch Mountain and intensively studying and practicing their supernatural powers, it is decided that Tony and Tia deserve a vacation in Los Angeles, California. Uncle Bené drops them off in their flying saucer in the Rose Bowl Stadium, after which they quickly become separated from each other. Dr. Gannon and Letha happen to see Tony using his powers, kidnap him, and successfully test the doctor's new mind-control technology on him. With Tony at his robotic bidding, Dr. Gannon hopes to achieve recognition within the scientific community and worldwide power, while Letha merely wants a return on her investment. Mr. Yokomoto (right) tries to navigate a van full of kids through the streets of Los Angeles in Return from Witch Mountain. Tia must find Tony and foil the villains' nefarious plans. Fortunately, a group of would-be toughs, called the Earthquake Gang, and hapless truant officer Mr. Yokomoto — whom the toughs call "Yo-Yo" — come to her aid. Filming locations The otherwise vacant lot, upon which the children's dilapidated hideout mansion stands, is today the location for One California Plaza, a high-rise office complex, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles museum center in Downtown Los Angeles, as well as at the restored Angels Flight funicular. The gold-bar robbery sequence was filmed at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, Los Angeles. The building facing the Park's Rose Garden was used for exterior shots of the museum. The scene in which Yokomoto's van is overturned, and breaks a fire-hydrant, was filmed near the Sunset Blvd. bridge and Glendale Blvd. underpass intersection, in the Echo Park district. Cast Actors Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann appear in at least four films together — this one, the original 1975 Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain, and the television film Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell. Richards portrays the roadside waitress and Eisenmann portrays the Sheriff in a re-imagined remake of the original film, Race to Witch Mountain, released in March 2009. Jack Soo (Mr. "Yoyo" Yokomoto) was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the Autumn of 1978, several months after the film's release. Return from Witch Mountain would be his final movie appearance, as he died the following January. The emergency voice heard over Yokomoto's van radio — announcing the problem at the plutonium plant — is that of Gary Owens. Category:Disney films Category:Live-action films Category:Sequel films Category:1978 films Category:Witch Mountain